Are window Hummingbird feeders safe

Be cautious when attracting hummers to a window hummingbird feeder by making sure the suction cups don't fail on you, which can lead to a deadly collapse.

While manufacturer's recommend a weight limit, it can help to reduce nectar in the window hummingbird feeder at all times. In addition, insure the suction cups are clean and so to the panel of glass. Test the safety of the feeder by filling it up with a weight of plain water to see if the vacuum in the cups will hold.

Safety of a hummingbird window feeder mostly involves around the window feeder collapsing to the ground below it, or indeed any possible chance hummers will crash into the panel of glass.

Best window hummingbird feeders you can buy will be made with an extra large set of suction cups, to provide a wider vacuum to guarantee a strong bond on the window.

If there's only one suction cup its therefore a smaller capacity window hummingbird feeder, thus there's no chance of overloading it with too much homemade nectar.

To be safe at first you can fill any window hummingbird feeder half way or only a third, so its far below the recommended weight limit.

Create a strong bond on the suction cups to which they must be clean and so to the glass window its stuck to. Dampen it if you must though there's no harm with the old fashion way of licking it make it stick.

You'd need to remove the window hummingbird feeders once in a while to both clean, and far more often than that - to empty the nectar to replenish.

To do that be sure the suction cups remain clean while wiping over the area on the glass again can certainly make it secure.

As it happens you can avoid constantly removing and placing the window feeder back on by using what is a window bird feeder hanging. To use an hanger it can remain in place, while a normal hanging hummingbird feeder can be used, providing its not too heavy.

Hummingbird window feeders are never guaranteed to work, though it must be safe from the off to be sure your visiting hummers can't be harmed in any way.

Safer than most bird feeders

What you must know about window hummingbird feeders compared to window feeders for regular bird food, is that the hummingbird kind is made to balance far differently.

What I mean by that is for a window hummingbird feeder to safely stick to a glass window, the weight of nectar filled up inside the container must be balanced.

Its not easy to get the right balance on a sticking out feeder, as the suction cups can be forced to peel off from the top down - though it can be made safe with extra large suction cups, even with fewer cups used.

Herein lies the difference between the safety of a window hummingbird feeder vs regular window bird feeder - the size of the suction cups and how many are mounted to individual hummingbird feeders.

Safety of a window disc-like hummingbird feeder is paramount as more pressure is on the cups, thus you can expect only two suction cups - of which are often enormous.

What this can do is secure more air trapped in the suction cups to create a strong vacuum, thus its never likely to fail on you even if its a filled to the top window feeder.

Similar disc shape window hummingbird feeders can also use two smaller suction cups, though this can correspond to a smaller capacity feeder.

With that, your standard tall window hummingbird feeder uses two suction cups again, one at the bottom and one at the top - to carefully balance the weight of the nectar.

Risk of collapse is low

Window bird feeders made to store any kind of bird food, including homemade nectar, isn't as safe as a normal feeder suspended on a bird feeder pole bracket.

Failing to take caution when sticking on a window hummingbird feeder to glass can result in a collapse, of which hummingbirds may be feeding at the time of the fall.

To make a window hummingbird safe on a glass window only - as you'd need to look elsewhere about sticking it to plastic - then do so by making sure all suction cups are clean, while fully dampened or licked.

Then proceed to press all available suction cups firmly against the window for up to 10 seconds or so and release - what you end up with is a strong bond between the feeder and window.

If in any doubt you can fill up the window hummingbird feeder to the very top with a weight of regular tap water - to see if it remains in place for up to a week.

In addition to this, you can add more weight inside the window hummingbird feeder during this test stage, to be sure its will remains stuck in place on your window.

How to attract hummingbirds to a window bird feeder is with a nectar filled container only, thus birds won't use it until you replace the water with your homemade nectar mix.

Maintain window feeder as normal

You know what, it can be easy to forget to clean a hummingbird feeder that comes in the stuck to a window style, thus you must remember to clean your window hummingbird feeder.

Maintenance of a window bird feeder is just as important, if not more.

You see the window the hummingbird feeder is stuck on can get dirty, and therefore it can lose some of its bond with the suction cups.

Up to two times a week you must consider popping off the window hummingbird feeder off its place, clean the window and so to the hummingbird feeder interior - before forcing it back on the window with freshly cleaned suction cups.

Hummingbird window feeders are good to use if they remains a safe source of nectar.

You cannot expect hummingbirds to continue to feed off cloudy, unsafe nectar so its vital its replaced every day, or as often as you can. Nectar so close to a hot window can certainly spoil far sooner to what you've been used to.

To tip out the old nectar you must first remove it from the window, and while the feeder can be stuck up again right away - you can proceed to pour in the fresh nectar once the feeder is back up in place.

Never fill the window hummingbird feeder until its back on the window, or you'll make a mess with nectar all over the feeder.

Window hummingbird feeders can attract ants as nectar can be spilled, so with that in mind you buy a window hummingbird feeder with ant moat surrounding it. Ant moat-installed hummingbird feeders are always the best type of nectar feeder you can buy - because there's no guarantee ants won't come to the feeder later.

Crash into window risks

What can go wrong with a hummingbird feeder now stuck to a panel of glass, is of course it can collapse. It won't though if you are sure there's a strong bond on the suction cups, with no fault on any of them.

However what is a real concern when attract hummingbirds to your window feeder, so therefore your window - is a possible chance of birds crashing into the panel of glass.

It can seem harmless but what hummingbirds may see while looking at your glass is the reflection of the backyard that is behind them, thus hummers - including all birds - will proceed to fly into the window believing there's more yard to explore.

And while hummingbirds may seem fine while quickly flying off in another direction, this isn't to say there are no internal injuries.

We must then take extra caution by preventing any possible head-on crashes now or in the future.

To let hummingbirds know there's a window ahead of them, you can create a grid-like pattern on your window with the use of colorful tape or sticky notes.

The idea is to let birds know there's a wall of something, anything where the window hummingbird feeder is stuck on, thus they must land on the feeder and go no further.

Conclusion

Hummingbird feeders made to be stuck on a glass window can be a lot of fun to try, though safety is paramount as we want to avoid a collapse above all else.

Window hummingbird feeders can be made with fewer suction cups to what you are used to, only the nectar capacity it far less thus the full weight of the window feeder, along with its contents is lighter than a regular window bird feeder.

To prevent a collapse the first thing to do is clean the area of the glass where the suction cups are about to be stuck to.

Similarly, you'd want to clean the suction cups with a cloth to be sure there's no imperfections that can break the seal.

Its then a matter of wetting or licking the whole inner suction cup to guarantee a strong bond, and therefore a tight vacuum.

Risk of a collapse is very low in a window bird feeder, though it won't hurt to proceed to test it out for a few days, by adding a weight of plain water to the feeder until you can be sure the window hummingbird feeder will hold.

In addition to that, be sure to prevent birds come crashing into the panel of glass as they approach the bird feeder, by letting them know there's a panel of glass ahead of them.

Its quite common for any common backyard bird to think there's more yard in the window when its just a reflection - so you want to stick up tape or sticky notes just to let hummers know there's something ahead of them, to which they can't see.

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